Fantasy Football Websites Among NFL Lockout Losers

Fantasy football website owners don't get a pass in the contractual battle between National Football League players and owners.

Just ask Joe Dyken, founder of FantasyFootballNerd.com.

The NFL lockout, which prohibits players from participating in any official team activities, has Dyken's once fast-growing site in limbo — right when it was on the verge of a Web gridiron victory.

The NFL lockout — that's the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium — is a kick in the gut for football websites. AP View Enlarged Image

"I have two Fortune 100 companies who are interested in sponsoring/advertising on the site," Dyken said. "But neither is willing to make any financial commitments until the NFL lockout is over."

Fantasy football has become a fairly big business on the Web, a technology that plays well with a hobby in which fans draft their own players, track statistics and keep standings, with winners getting rewards that — rumor has it — can include cash. Websites feed off the millions of fans that play fantasy football.

Some fantasy football-related websites claim to rake in millions of dollars a year from ads and premium features.

Then the contract between the NFL Players Association and league expired in March without the sides coming close to a new agreement, and the lockout began. Traffic at the five largest fantasy football sites — operated by such companies as Yahoo (YHOO), Walt Disney's (DIS) ESPN and the NFL itself — plummeted 67% in May vs. May 2010, says tracker Experian Hitwise.

Representatives for Yahoo and ESPN, as well as reps from CBS (CBS) and Fox Sports owner News Corp. (NWS), didn't respond to inquires or declined to comment.

Dyken says traffic to his site, which isn't one of the top seven, is down 30% from a year ago, and his ad revenue is down 30%, too.

Another website, thefantasyfootballsource.com, saw its monthly visitor count jump from a mere 193 at its launch in August 2010 to 8,727 in March. Then came the lockout, and the number fell to 4,917 in April, 1,199 in May and 204 the first two weeks of June.

Crucial Time Is ... Now

While the NFL regular season doesn't start until September, now is usually a key time for fantasy football players, with minicamps, player trades and free agency signings.

But the lockout is poison for fantasy leagues, says Matt Lechner, owner of the Fantasy Football Source.

"The big problem we're running into is there is no fresh content available due to the lockout," he said. "It's leaving us with very little to write about. There's no real reason for readers to check out your website."

Fantasy football website owners don't get a pass in the contractual battle between National Football League players and owners.

Just ask Joe Dyken, founder of FantasyFootballNerd.com.

The NFL lockout, which prohibits players from participating in any official team activities, has Dyken's once fast-growing site in limbo — right when it was on the verge of a Web gridiron victory.

The NFL lockout — that's the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium — is a kick in the gut for football websites. AP View Enlarged Image

"I have two Fortune 100 companies who are interested in sponsoring/advertising on the site," Dyken said. "But neither is willing to make any financial commitments until the NFL lockout is over."

Fantasy football has become a fairly big business on the Web, a technology that plays well with a hobby in which fans draft their own players, track statistics and keep standings, with winners getting rewards that — rumor has it — can include cash. Websites feed off the millions of fans that play fantasy football.

Some fantasy football-related websites claim to rake in millions of dollars a year from ads and premium features.

Then the contract between the NFL Players Association and league expired in March without the sides coming close to a new agreement, and the lockout began. Traffic at the five largest fantasy football sites — operated by such companies as Yahoo (YHOO), Walt Disney's (DIS) ESPN and the NFL itself — plummeted 67% in May vs. May 2010, says tracker Experian Hitwise.

Representatives for Yahoo and ESPN, as well as reps from CBS (CBS) and Fox Sports owner News Corp. (NWS), didn't respond to inquires or declined to comment.

Dyken says traffic to his site, which isn't one of the top seven, is down 30% from a year ago, and his ad revenue is down 30%, too.

Another website, thefantasyfootballsource.com, saw its monthly visitor count jump from a mere 193 at its launch in August 2010 to 8,727 in March. Then came the lockout, and the number fell to 4,917 in April, 1,199 in May and 204 the first two weeks of June.

Crucial Time Is ... Now

While the NFL regular season doesn't start until September, now is usually a key time for fantasy football players, with minicamps, player trades and free agency signings.

But the lockout is poison for fantasy leagues, says Matt Lechner, owner of the Fantasy Football Source.

"The big problem we're running into is there is no fresh content available due to the lockout," he said. "It's leaving us with very little to write about. There's no real reason for readers to check out your website."

At the extreme end, the lockout could ax the 2011 season. Most observers say that's unlikely, but they say a shortened season is a very real possibility.

That, though, wouldn't be a big problem for fantasy football websites, says Adam Hanft, chief executive of Hanft Projects. The brand strategy firm works with online companies including two owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI) — CitySearch.com and Match.com.

"It's not as if the season being delayed is the problem," Hanft said. "The problem is that there are things that need to be done now for the fantasy guys to start to put their teams together. The uncertainty is suppressing all of those fantasy activities."

Other football websites also are among lockout losers.

Traffic to Totalpackers.com , an independent website devoted to last season's Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, had 5,000 to 15,000 visitors a day in January and February — and 1,000 to 3,000 a day this month.

Monty McMahon, owner of Totalpackers.com, says his ad revenue fell 20% in March from February, and another 5% in April. It has since leveled off.

The extended lockout is a grim reality for all pro football websites, McMahon says.

"The lack of free agency and the traditional offseason activities have really hurt," he said. "We expect a drop-off (in traffic) once the season ends, but it shouldn't have been this steep."

Dyken remains hopeful since both sides have stepped up talks as July's traditional start of NFL training camps looms.

"We've got about 30 days before we really need to be concerned," he said. "Right now I'm looking at it from a glass-half-full perspective."

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